


luke and reggie's guide to getting your best friend a date (not recommended)

by Irratia



Category: Julie and The Phantoms (TV)
Genre: (which is so weird!!! they're 20!!! why is the us so weird with drinking laws???), F/F, F/M, Implied/Referenced Underage Drinking, Kissing, M/M, Scheming, Secret Relationship, Swearing, but in a dumb way, funky fresh queer hijinks, it's gay it's dumb that's my brand rn, not really they're just oblivious, y'all idek what this is
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-28
Updated: 2020-12-28
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:00:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,995
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28391301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Irratia/pseuds/Irratia
Summary: “They’re insufferable,” Luke whispers into Reggie’s ear, as they watch Willie and Alex talk, their heads close together. The two boys keep stealing glances at each other, and blushing, and it’s painfully obvious to anybody watching that they both like each other. Now if they could just fucking act on their feelings.Reggie nods, an idea suddenly starting to form in his mind, as he watches Alex brush a strand of Willie’s hair behind his ear.“We should help them,” he whispers.“Dude,” Luke gasps and turns to look at him. “You’re a genius!”
Relationships: Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Bobby | Trevor Wilson/Reggie Peters, Flynn/Carrie Wilson, Julie Molina/Luke Patterson, Minor or Background Relationship(s)
Comments: 25
Kudos: 164





	luke and reggie's guide to getting your best friend a date (not recommended)

**Author's Note:**

> i know i say this everytime, but this is genuinely the dumbest thing i've ever written, and i love it!  
> luke and reggie dumbassery is very good and very queer, so that's what this is, with a side of willex and not enough use of braincells, or common sense, really.  
> also it's so weird that i have to tag this as underage drinking, because the guys are all 20 in this, and julie and flynn are 19, but since i mention drinking a few times and they're in the us i have to. it's literally just beer. which i've legally been allowed to purchase and consume since i was 16. it's weird.  
> anyway, i hope y'all enjoy!

** Step One: Realize Your Friend Needs Help **

“They’re insufferable,” Luke whispers into Reggie’s ear, as they watch Willie and Alex talk, their heads close together. The two boys keep stealing glances at each other, and blushing, and it’s painfully obvious to anybody watching that they both like each other. Now if they could just fucking act on their feelings.  
Reggie nods, an idea suddenly starting to form in his mind, as he watches Alex brush a strand of Willie’s hair behind his ear.

“We should help them,” he whispers.

“Dude,” Luke gasps and turns to look at him. “You’re a genius!”

“Thank you, thank you,” Reggie says, grinning, and settling deeper into Luke’s side.  
They’re actually supposed to put together the setlist for their next gig, until Julie and Flynn get back from the girl’s trip they took with Carrie and Kayla over the weekend, but then Willie showed up at the studio and now Alex hasn’t really paid attention to them for the last fifteen minutes. So they can’t be blamed for not doing what they’re supposed to, really, because Bobby also isn’t here to kick them in the ass, and what are Reggie and Luke supposed to do, if not judge Alex while cuddling on the couch?

“We just have to get them to go on a date or something, and get Lex to confess, and then we’ll finally have peace from his damn pining, easy as that,” Reggie says, satisfied with himself. Luke nods, and they give each other an awkward fist bump because it turns out it’s hard to do that when you’re squished together.

“So how do we do that?” Luke asks after a moment, leaning his head on Reggie’s shoulder. Which is a good and fair question, but Reggie really hasn’t thought that far ahead.

“I don’t know, dude. Just because Bobby and I are dating doesn’t mean I know how it happened,” he says.

“Didn’t you just kiss him?”

“No, I fell out of the tree I was climbing to impress him and he got very worried and annoyed at me for making him worry and then he kissed me,”

"Alex would never climb a tree,” Luke sighs. Reggie agrees.  
Willie giggles at something Alex said, and he gets bright red in the face.  
“And Jules was the one who asked me out, so I don’t really have any idea how to do that,” Luke adds, rolling his eyes at their best friend, who remains unaware of the plan they're concocting.  
Reggie bites his lip. This might actually be harder than he thought.

“Maybe we could ask them for help,” Luke says slowly.

“Nah, dude, they’d tell us we shouldn’t meddle in other people’s lives,” Reggie says.

“It’s as if they don’t even value our sanity,” Luke groans. “If I have to listen to another rant about how perfect Willie’s hair is, and how soft it looks, I’m going to lose my mind!”

“Do you really think that would change if they got together, though? You don’t shut the fuck up about Jules, either, and you’ve been dating for a year,” Reggie teasingly nudges Luke, who’s cheeks gain a bit of colour.

“Yeah, well, Julie is amazing so that’s just a requirement. Also don’t pretend you don’t do the same thing about Bobby, you cried about his beauty just three days ago.”

“I was tipsy!” Reggie protests, but he can’t deny it. It’s not his fault his boyfriend is gorgeous and he has many emotions. Luke nods, grinning.

“Do you think Carrie would help us, if we asked?” Reggie asks, after a short pause in which they both think about how to execute their plan.

Luke looks unsure. “I’m not sure, she might, but she also might tell Bobby and he’d have our asses for it,”  
Willie and Alex are still talking, completely unaware of the discussion Reggie and Luke are having.  
“I bet we can pull this off ourselves, though. I mean, we got Julie to join the band even though she didn’t want to at first, how hard can it be to get these idiots together?” Luke decides, sounding confident all of a sudden.

And he’s right, so Reggie nods. “Operation Willex shall commence,” he says, grinning.

“Willex?”

“Yeah, Willex, that’s their names together,”

“Don’t you think we should give that a less obvious name?”

“If you didn’t get it, they definitely won’t”  
Luke opens his mouth to protest, but the doors to the garage swing open and Bobby comes in, carrying a tote bag over one shoulde that crinkles suspiciously at any movement. It’s not as if Reggie hasn’t already seen him today, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t love seeing his boyfriend, and so he gets excited, bouncing on the couch.

“What’s up gays, how’s the setlist coming along?” Bobby greets and drops the bag on the ground.  
“It isn’t,” Luke says.  
“What’s in the bag?” Reggie asks, making grabby hands for it.  
“I’m the only homosexual here,” Alex says.  
“Hi, Bobby,” Willie says, because he’s the only one with half a functioning brain cell.

Bobby sighs.

  
“Hey, Willie,” he says and bumps fists with the other boy before dropping down next to Reggie on the couch and throwing an arm around his shoulders.  
“I thought so, so I brought snacks-,” he starts, and clamps a hand around Reggie’s shoulder when he moves to get up, because snacks.  
“That you’re going to get when you’ve made the list, I don’t want to face the wrath of the girls if we fail,” he continues and presses a kiss to Reggie’s cheek, seeing his pout.

“We’re not some kind of animal you can bribe into doing a task for some food,” Alex grumbles, already getting up and grabbing the notepad that they’ve deposited on the table.

“It’s working, though,” Bobby says.

“I hate you,” Alex answers, dropping down next to Willie again, who doesn’t even try to hide his amusement. “I need the pen, Luke,” he adds.

“I’m writing,” Luke protests, spinning it between his fingers, a lot less fluidly than Alex always does.

“No the fuck you aren’t,” Bobby says at the same time as Alex.

“We want to be able to read the list,” Reggie adds, winking at Luke who has the nerve to be offended, as if he doesn’t know his handwriting is absolutely atrocious.

“Give me the pen, Patterson, I don’t want to have to search the studio for one,” Alex says, holding out his hand. Luke puts the end of the pen in his mouth, because he knows that Alex absolutely hates it when he does that.

Predictably Alex groans: “You’re disgusting, now I have to get up and look for a pen!”

Reggie’s about to point out that there’s a sharpie under the couch table, when Willie leans towards Alex and pulls on the fanny pack he’s got strapped around his chest. Alex stops short, and they all watch as Willie opens the big zipper and pulls out a ballpoint pen.

“You can just use this and stop being dramatic, Hotdog,” Willie says fondly and presses it into Alex’s hand with a soft smile.  
Reggie glances at Luke who watches that interaction go down with the same level of interest he is.

Alex clears his throat. “Right, thanks, okay,” he says.  
Willie gives him an even more fond smile and winks at Alex before leaning back in the armchair and pulling out his phone to let them do their thing.

Luke nudges Reggie and they nod at each other, understanding that they need to do something about these idiots, and soon. Things should be smooth sailing.

**Step Two: Make The Move Your Friends Isn't Making**

Things are not smooth sailing.

The first opportunity to get Willie and Alex to go on a date together presents itself two days after Reggie and Luke decide to do something about their friends.  
The weather’s getting better and warmer again.  
They’re practicing, and Willie comes by, as he does a lot. None of them even bat an eye anymore when the skater comes in through the doors, they just greet him and he deposits himself on the couch or in a chair and watches them, cheering enthusiastically whenever they get through a song, or they mess up.  
He fits right in.

Reggie’s bouncing next to Alex when Willie strolls in, wearing a crop top for the first time in months. Alex’s steady beat falters for a second, bringing them all out of their momentum.  
Julie and Bobby just grin at Alex who apologizes profusely. Luke sighs loudly and gives Reggie a _look_.  
Willie smiles and waves hello before stretching out on the couch, either completely unaware or uncaring that Alex fucked up because of him and his crop tops.

Which, in all fairness to Alex, is understandable. Bobby borrowed one of Willie’s tops last summer and Reggie had damn near broken his nose walking into a door because he’d gotten so distracted.

The rest of their practice goes off without a hitch, and Reggie can’t resist throwing his arms around his boyfriend and kissing him after a particularly successful rendition of “Now Or Never” because that’s one of their first songs ever, and although Julie is the star of the band now, having Bobby rock out to it next to him and sing practically into his ear is an experience.

“Get a room!” Alex calls from behind the drums as he takes his earplugs out. Bobby holds up his middle finger at him and kisses Reggie again.

“Don’t be like that, I think they’re cute, you gotta appreciate young love,” Willie says from the couch. Reggie pulls away to gauge Alex’s reaction, who shoots a glare in Willie’s direction and blushes.

“You would know,” Bobby says, and presses another quick kiss onto Reggies lips before stepping away to put his guitar down and get a bottle of water.

“Shut the fuck up, Robert,” Willie says quickly.  
Reggie would come to his boyfriend’s defence but Bobby just laughs and throws Alex a bottle, not even reacting to the pink colour in his cheeks anymore. Which is weird, because just a few weeks ago he would have rolled his eyes at him, for being so oblivious. Now he just holds out his half finished bottle to Reggie, who gladly takes it, still puzzled.

They settle down before the studio in the yard, sitting on a blanket and sharing some Cheetos and the Sour Patch Kids that are miraculously still left over from the bag Bobby brought two days ago.  
Julie’s practically sitting in Luke’s lap, as she often does, and he keeps playing with strands of her hair, twisting them around his fingers, while she talks about the new choreography Kayla and Carrie showed them on the trip, and occasionally shoves cheetos in his mouth.  
Regge’s sitting cross legged, and has Bobby’s head in his lap, carding through his hair with his left hand, while Bobby plays with the fingers of his right, admiring the holographic nailpolish Julie put on him as it sparkles in the sun.  
Willie and Alex are sitting directly next to each other, with Alex having his legs crossed and leaning forward, listening intently. Willie’s legs are stretched out, and he’s leaning back on his hands, head tilted and watching Alex with a fond smile on his face.

Reggie catches Luke’s eyes for a second and tilts his head to the two trying his best to be subtle. Bobby still notices and cranes his neck slightly to look at them.  
A soft look enters his eyes, the one that’s usually reserved for Julie and Luke when they’re unaware of the rest of the world, too caught up in each other.  
Reggie likes that look on his boyfriend, a lot, and so he leans down and presses a quick kiss to his lips, feeling them quirk up in a smile, even though it hurts in his lower back. It's worth it.

The topic of conversation shifts onto the weather as a soft breeze picks up, blowing through their hair.

“I really wanna go surfing again soon,” Alex comments.

“I’ve always wanted to learn how to surf, but never really got around to it,” Willie says, immediately.  
Reggie and Luke perk up at the same time, their eyes finding each other. They obviously have the same idea. A smile tugs at the corner of Luke’s mouth, and he gives Reggie a tiny nod.

“Oh, I bet you’d be good at it, since you can skate,” Julie nods.

“That doesn’t mean anything, Alex can’t even stand straight on a skateboard, and he’s by far the best surfer out of all us,” Bobby says.

“I can’t do anything straight,” Alex says drily. Willie starts laughing, as does Reggie and he can see Bobby trying to hold it in.

“None of us can, you ain’t special, bitch,” Julie shoots back and that breaks Luke. It’s dumb, and they know it, but a good gay joke never misses, and Reggie can’t help but think about how glad he is that they all found each other.  
Luke is the first one to sober up again, and he winks at Reggie. “ _I 've got this_ ,” he mouths.

“I bet Alex could teach you to surf,” he says, louder than is strictly necessary. Julie turns her head to look at him and crinkles her brows in confusion.  
Alex looks just as confused, and Willie’s eyes keep flitting between the two guys.

“I- okay. I mean I guess I could?” Alex says, slowly.

“Oh, that could be fun, do we all still have time this Saturday? We could meet up and Alex could give us all a refresher course,” Bobby says, sitting up and looking excited. Julie nods.

“I’m not a professional teacher or-” Alex starts.

“Baby, we don’t have time on Saturday,” Reggie cuts in. If this is supposed to be a plan to get Alex and Willie together, then the two should have some time alone, and not spend hanging out with the entire group of friends

“Yeah, we do,” Bobby says sounding confused, staring at him with obvious questions in his eyes.

“No, we don’t,” Reggie repeats, trying to convey how much they don’t through his eyes, hoping that Bobby will get it. Aren’t couples supposed to have a telepathic link or something?

“Reg, you know I love you and you’re often right, but there’s a reason you aren’t the one who takes care of our schedules,”   
So obviously they're not at that stage yet.

It’s almost as if Bobby doesn’t want Alex and Willie to get their shit together.

“No, I had a surprise planned for you,” Reggie blurts out.  
Well. That’s one way to go about things. In his periphery he can see Luke freaking out, while Julie watches with interest.

Bobby immediately softens. “Oh, well,” he says, and his voice cracks a bit.  
Reggie definitely needs to come up with something until Saturday.  
“Looks like we probably can’t join you on the beach, then,” Bobby adds. Maybe they can go to the zoo, or something.

“Look at you Reg, finally learning to be a romantic,” Alex says, grinning at him and sounding oddly proud. Reggie momentarily forgets his panic and that he really needs to do some last minute planning, because what the fuck. Julie slaps her hands to her mouth.

“What’s that supposed to mean, I’m plenty romantic!” he protests.

“Writing a country song for your boyfriend’s birthday isn’t the movie worthy gesture you think it is, buddy,” Luke interjects. Reggie gasps in offence, ready to argue back, but is interrupted.

“Can we please not do this for just one fucking day?” Alex pleads. Julie giggles into her hands, and Bobby places a calming hand on the back of Reggie’s neck.

“I thought it was romantic,” he whispers and kisses Reggie on the cheek. Reggie sticks his tongue out at Luke who rolls his eyes.  
They’re all very grown up, obviously.

“I personally would like it very much to spend a day at the beach, and watch Luke fail at surfing, I’ll ask Flynn if she wants to come,” Julie says. Reggie briefly wonders if Luke will try to find an excuse too, but then Alex speaks up again.

“I mean, we can do that, but none of us has asked if Willie would actually be okay with this whole thing?” he’s started fiddling with his ring and sends an almost nervous glance at Willie.

“No need to worry, Hotdog, I’m up to it,” Willie says and nudges Alex with his shoulder, who relaxes basically instantly and smiles back. 

It’s one of the things Reggie loves about Willie, the way he instantly recognizes when Alex tenses up, and how well he can read the situation and react.  
It’s like Bobby with him, when they hear a couple arguing in public and he pulls Reggie away and starts distracting him until his muscles relax and the urge to hide behind something lessens.  
Or with Julie and Luke, who both have the ability to read each other’s expressions in fragments of a second and when Luke gets overwhelmed by decisions or frustrated because he can’t seem to concentrate on anything she pulls him into a tight hug and starts with a melody, until they’re both focused on a new song.

It’s like all of them were made to slot into place as duos, adding on and fitting together with no issue, like it is with their group of friends.  
Everyone always brings something new, something that adds on and fits into place perfectly.  
It went from Reggie and Alex who met in preschool and bonded over not really liking holidays even at such a young age to  
Reggie and Alex and Luke who was, like Reggie, struggling with letters and concentrating.  
And then they were Reggie and Alex and Luke and Bobby, who all loved music and wrote songs together and dreamed of becoming popstars.  
And then it was them and Julie, who brought them a new sound and colours and matched Luke's imense talent, and Julie and the Phantoms and Flynn, who helped make them a fairly well known band.  
After Flynn it was Carrie who expanded the group, rejoicing with the girls.  
And with her came Kayla.

And then came Willie, who skates on his own, but has something that makes him fit in without question, even if they’ve only known him for about a year.  
He dances with Carrie and Kayla, and loves Star Wars with Reggie, and arm wrestles with Bobby for hours.  
He makes bracelets with Julie and does makeup with Flynn, and plays endless games with Luke, matching his energy.  
And, of course, relaxes Alex, and makes him laugh, and encourages him in all the best ways possible. He’s perfect for Alex and he’s perfect for their group, and Reggie really, really wants this to work out.

Which is why he’ll have to plan a date in the span of three days and also figure out a way they’ll actually spend Saturday on their own. Conversation has shifted again, onto their next gig, and Reggie listens half-heartedly, leaning into Bobby and drawing random patterns on his boyfriend’s jean-clad thigh.  
When Luke gets up to fetch something to drink for the group he almost topples over in his haste to join him.

“What do we do now?” he hisses the second they’re out of earshot, making their way up to the Molina’s house

“I don’t think it’s that bad an idea if I’m there, actually. Gotta make sure they actually interact, y’know. Maybe I’ll distract everyone so that Willie has to be the one to put sunscreen on Alex’s back,” Luke says, all calm and collected.

“Oh,” Reggie says. “That’s a good plan actually. You can monitor their process,”

“Yeah,” Luke grins, looking proud of himself. Then he turns his head to look at Reggie and his grin broadens, as he pulls open the side door to the house. “So, what’re you going to do with Bobby?”

“I don’t know!” Reggie whines. “I didn’t think and now I have to do something, but I don’t want to pull just anything out of my ass,”  
They step into the kitchen, and Luke opens the fridge, while Reggie hops onto the counter.

“You know he’ll love everything you come up with, right? He’s so fucking whipped you could frost a cake,” Luke says.

“Ew,” Julie says from behind them, making them jump. Luke hits his head on the top of the fridge and Reggie has to hold on tight so he doesn’t fall off. She’s leaning in the doorway and shaking her head.  
“You guys are idiots,” she says.

“I mean broadly, yeah, but why now? What prompted it?” Luke asks, rubbing his forehead.

“I don’t know what you’re planning yet, but I’ll find out, and it better not be as dumb as I think it might be,” she answers.

“How do you know it’s dumb?” Reggie protests.

“Because you made up a surprise date for Bobby on the spot, Reg,”

“That’s fair,”

“I know,” she says and smiles at him, before clapping her hands together and urging them to hurry up and get back outside. 

They’ll have to be stealthier and less conspicuous from now on, Reggie decides, because Julie cannot find out what they’re doing.

**Step Three: Get Someone Else's Opinion**

They are not stealthier and less conspicuous from that day on, mostly because of Luke.

Reggie does actually take Bobby to the zoo, and the aquarium and woos him with animal facts and food, and it’s such a good date that he doesn’t regret making it up one bit. Then again, next to everything involving Bobby makes Reggie incredibly happy.  
Luke says that Saturday was okay, he managed to distract the girls for long enough that he saw Willie actually put sunscreen on Alex’s back, and that Alex was actually a pretty good teacher.  
He’d also sent Reggie a video of Alex out in the waves and Willie’s awestruck expression back on the beach.

Their next chance comes the following Tuesday, three days before their gig, when they realize Willie hasn’t been officially invited to it yet.

It’s just Reggie and Luke and Ray, all hanging out in the kitchen, and cooking together before Julie, Bobby and Alex get off their shifts and they can practice.  
Reggie loves cooking with Ray, because Ray is great and also there’s food.

“Hey, Ray, can I ask you something?” Luke asks suddenly, while they’re all chopping various vegetables. Luke is taking care of the onions because he’s the only one who doesn’t cry when cutting them. Reggie looks up from his bell peppers and shoots Luke a questioning look.

“Sure, mijo, shoot,” Ray says.

“Okay, this is a totally hypothetical scenario, yeah?” Luke starts. Ray nods.  
“If we wanted to, in theory of course, get two people to date, how would we accomplish that, hypothetically?”

Reggie drops his knife onto the cutting board. He hasn’t even thought of asking someone who has more and better experience in dating. Ray puts his knife down and turns around to them, a quizzical look on his face. “This is hypothetical, yes?”

“Yeah,” Reggie agrees.

“Why would you want these two people to date?” Ray asks, slowly, looking between them.

“Well, it’s absolutely obvious they like each other, but they keep dancing around each other and it’s driving us insane. In theory,” Luke says.

Ray stares at them for a long moment. “I worry for you boys sometimes,” he says.  
“But I’d advise you to just let them be. If it’s that obvious they like each other they’ll find a way to get over their fears and start getting serious at some point. They don’t need you two meddling. Hypothetically,” Ray continues, emphasizing the 'hypotehtically" with his hands.

“So you’d say to just let them be?” Reggie asks, just to make sure.

“I’d strongly say so, yes. You can never know what has happened already,” Ray agrees. Luke looks about to argue, but then the doorbell rings and Ray goes to answer, so instead he turns to Reggie.  
“I love Ray, but I don’t think we should listen to him,” he says, quietly, only barely audible over Ray’s conversation with who Reggie assumes to be the mailman.

“Agreed, he doesn’t even know how obvious Alex and Willie are,” Reggie says, then quickly pretends to examine a pepper because Ray comes back.

Lunch goes well, and so does practice, without Willie’s appearance disrupting it this time.  
After, they hang out. Alex has Julie’s head in his lap, absentmindedly braiding her curls, and Luke sits with his back to the couch they’re on, her arm across his chest, so that he's fiddling with her fingers. Bobby and Reggie are squeezed in the armchair together, holding hands. 

Reggie decides he has a softer touch and more tact than Luke, and that he should be the one to make things happen now.  
“Alex, you should invite Willie to our gig on Friday,” he says after a lull in their conversation. He keeps his voice casual, cool. He’s chill, this is a normal thing to say.

“We always invite Willie to our gigs,” Alex says, looking up to him.

“So?”

“I didn’t think I’d have to invite him? We usually just send the time and place in the chat?” Alex looks confused. Julie and Bobby exchange a look full of exasperation, probably at Alex’s cluelessness, Reggie thinks.

Luke sighs.  
“Yeah, but you’re closest to him, so. That makes it more personal,” he says, craning his neck to look at Alex who just looks confused now.

“Okay?” he says slowly, still not picking up on what they're trying to conves.

“So will you?” Reggie asks, leaning forward slightly. Bobby sighs next to him.

“Will I what?”

“Invite Willie?”  
“What the fuck,” Alex mumbles quietly, almost to himself. “Yeah, I guess, I just thought this was a given,”  
Julie makes a choked sound that sounds like she’s holding back a laugh.

“Nice,” Reggie says. Luke gives him a hidden thumbs up.  
Things are looking up in Operation Willex, he just needed to take the lead in it.

** Step Four: Think About Step Five And Hope It Works **

Things really do seem to be looking up, when Reggie walks into the studio two days later.  
They’re planning for a late night session, and have to pack up their instruments to be ready to go tomorrow, plus he lost a ring in here yesterday that he kind of really wants to find. He pushes one of the doors open, then stops dead in his tracks.

The studio already is occupied, which isn’t really surprising because even though the guys have an apartment together, they spend almost more time here.  
What is surprising is that it’s Alex and Willie, alone, and that they’re cuddling on the couch. Alex is stretched out on his back, his head propped up with a pillow, and Willie’s got his head on his chest, their legs tangled together.  
They’re talking to each other in low, soft tones that Reggie doesn’t understand, and Willie fiddles with the strips of Alex’s hoodie.

They don’t notice him in the cracked open door and Reggie slowly backs out again, closing it as quietly as possible. Obviously they’re having a moment, and he’s not going to be the one to ruin it, even if it’s sort of painful to watch Alex literally cuddle on the couch with the guy he’s basically in love with, instead of finally confessing his feelings.

Reggie's always kind of assumed to be the most oblivious one in their friendship group because sometimes he has a hard time reading the situation and he wears his heart on his sleeve and doesn’t really know how to hold his tongue.  
Bobby apparently liked him back for years, before they got their shit together, which Alex is still pretty merciless about. _Mercer-less_ , Reggie thinks and grins to himself. Luke comes barreling the garden path, which is great, because they definitely need to do something, like, yesterday.

“Try to be quiet,” Reggie whispers to Luke, when he jumps down the last few steps.

Luke gives him a confused look. “Why?”

“You have to be really sneaky, but look in the studio,” Reggie says. Luke still looks confused and kind of weirded out, but he tiptoes over to the doors and peers through one of the windows.

“Goddamnit,” he whispers and turns around, taking Reggie’s arm and tugging him away from the studio. “How are they this dumb?”

“It’s not even funny anymore,” Reggie agrees, following after Luke back to the house.

“So what do we do now?” Luke asks, dropping down on the steps to the house’s porch.

“We could just lock them in a closet or something, and not let them out until they actually get their shit together,” Reggie suggests, raking a hand through his hair. He starts pacing back and forth, because allegedly that usually helps Alex think.

“I don’t think ‘lex would take too kindly to being shoved in a closet,” Luke says.

“We should maybe keep in mind as a last resort kind of thing,”

“What if we get a bit drunk tomorrow and play truth or dare after the gig? We could dare them to tell a secret or something,”

“We don’t live inside a fanfiction, Luke, that won’t work.”

“What won’t work?” Bobby asks, startling them.  
Reggie stops pacing because that also hasn’t helped him think, and smiles at his boyfriend, who’s leaning against the frame of the backdoor, his arms crossed. He’s seen Bobby today, has literally woken up next to him, but hugs are always good, and so he shoves Luke to the side a bit and practically jumps at Bobby, who catches him with practiced ease. Reggie wraps his arms around him, and Bobby crosses his hands at the small of his back, sways them back and forth a bit. Luke rolls his eyes.

“While I appreciate you being cute, you still haven’t answered my question, Reg, and my ‘my boyfriend and my best friend are being idiots again’ senses were tingling,” Bobby says, and grins at the way both Luke and Reggie gasp.

“As if you have something like that!” Luke protests.

“I had a feeling you were about to do something stupid when you tried to flambé that steak last week,” Bobby says. Which, to be fair, is true, but it had also involved Alex and maybe a bit too much beer and their conviction things couldn’t go wrong.

“So? Nothing happened, this proves nothing,” Luke says.

“Well, I’d say it’s fair to say nothing happened because Bobby stopped us from dropping the matchstick in the pan,” Reggie concedes.

“That’s right. I still can’t believe you would have cooked that with the rest,” Bobby says, shaking his head.

“Okay, so maybe you have an inkling sometimes when we have bad ideas, but it’s not like you don’t have any,” Luke grumbles from where he’s still sitting on the steps.

“Yeah, but my ideas are usually getting drunk at three am and getting a McFlurry or climbing the roof of the studio to watch the stars, not burning the apartment down.”

“Remember that time you made a bet on who could stay up the longest?” Reggie asks.

“Babe, we don’t talk about that,” Bobby pleads immediately.

Luke barks out a laugh. “I’m pretty sure I was hallucinating by the dawn of day three,” he says.

“Alex and I had to call Carrie to put you to bed,” Reggie says, chuckling because he remembers how absolutely done she’d looked, wrestling her half-brother into bed and sitting on him until he gave into sleep.

“Or the time we were in Alaska and you tried to steal a wolf puppy because Reg said they were cute?”

“Or when you and Alex tried to eat these really spicy noodle challenge in New York and both of you ended up crying after the first bite?” Reggie adds on.

“What about the time Julie dared you to say ‘fuck’ infront of Carlos with Rose in the room when he was eleven?”  
Luke and Reggie both laugh as Bobby groans.  
“You have to face it, dude, you’re not better than us,” Reggie says and gives Bobby a quick kiss when he tries to argue,

“You might be a bit smarter than us in the end, but you’d still try to break into a museum if Carrie bet you couldn't do it, so shut up,” he adds, and kisses Bobby again, who gives in with another embarassed groan, before kissing back.

“Why aren’t you in the studio, by the way, I thought you wanted to find your ring?” Bobby pulls back, and tucks a few hairs behind Reggie’s left ear, hand lingering on his cheek.

“Alex and Willie are being dumb and cuddling on the couch,” Luke explains, leaning against the porch balustrade. Bobby looks between him and Reggie, forehead crinkling in thought for a second.

“Oh, you two can’t be serious,” he says then, sounding exasperated.

“No, we are!” Reggie says. Bobby sighs. 

“You two do know that they-” he starts, but is interrupted by Julie almost walking into him and Reggie, still standing in the door.

She squeaks and glares at them, before pushing them to the side.  
“Stop being gay and get your asses in the studio, Flynn needs a video of us rehearsing for Instagram to promote the gig tomorrow,” she says, grabbing Luke by the hand, interrupted by him lifting it up and pressing a quick kiss to her knuckles.  
As much as Luke pretends to be annoyed by Reggie and Bobby’s PDA, he isn’t any less touchy with Julie. And she loves it, even if she rolls her eyes at it now. The tiny blush on her cheeks is a giveaway.  
“Is Willie here already?”

“Oh, Willie is here alright,” Luke says, grinning. Reggie snorts. She gives them a bewildered look. Bobby just sighs again.

“Okay, then stop being weird and let’s go,” she says and pulls Luke along, with Reggie and Bobby hot on their heels.  
Julie basically kicks that studio door open, and they find Willie and Alex curled up next to each other on the couch, watching a video on Willie’s phone.

“You’re up to taking a few videos of us for Instagram, right?” Julie asks, not bothering to greet them with more than a wave. Willie looks up and nods.

“Yeah, no problem,” he says.

“I gotta find my ring,” Reggie says to Bobby and disentangles their hands, waving at Luke, who joins him and they start by the potted plants in the back, not that he thinks he might have lost his ring there, but because it's the furthest from the others. He isn’t actually allowed near the plants since he tried to eat a bit of Aloe Vera raw because Bobby made the joke that he wouldn’t dare to.

“We’ll have to do something tomorrow,” Luke whispers, crawling behind the Yucca Tree. Reggie pretends to pat the ground underneath one of the racks.

“I can’t bear it anymore, I just want Alex to finally be happy in his relationship with Willie, and to stop pining,” Reggie says, just as quietly. Luke nods.

“I found your ring!” Willie hollers from the front of the studio.

“What do we do?” Luke asks, quickly. Reggie would suggest talking about plans back home, but Luke’s going to stay the night at Julie’s today.

“We’ll figure it out tomorrow,” he says, trying to sound confident enough to convince both himself and Luke, who nods.  
They got this, they’ll figure it out tomorrow.

** Step Five: Fail Prematurely **

They do not, in fact, figure it out tomorrow, because the day is filled with stress because Alex loses his phone under the couch and they don’t check there until an hour after the initial freakout, and then they’re almost late to pick up Julie and Luke, as well as their instruments, because Bobby can’t find the suspenders he wants to wear today, and after that Luke and Reggie don’t find time between just the two of them, because either Alex, Bobby or Julie, or all of them, are always in the same room as them.

Their soundcheck goes great and Julie paints Reggie’s nails again, while they get ready for the show.  
Actually, the five of them are piled on the single couch in the green room of the club they’re playing.  
Reggie’s at the far end on the right, and Bobby’s leaning against his chest, holding his hands up for Julie who’s kind of lying across Luke and Alex’s laps, doing her best with his nails. Luke has an arm thrown around Alex’s shoulder, and keeps talking about a new idea he has for a song, throwing random lyrics into the room, which Bobby picks up.  
Alex keeps tapping on his phone, obviously texting someone, and by the smitten look on his face there's really only person that could be.

Flynn comes in an hour before they’re set to start playing, and helps them get ready. Julie does her own makeup, and the other guys just get dressed, but Reggie always wears eyeliner, and he’s absolutely terrible at putting it on himself, so Flynn does it for him.

“Hold still, please, I know Bobby’s changing his shirt but you can’t see that if I stab your eyeball,” she says, her grip on his chin tight, so he doesn’t move too much.

“How would you know that’s what I’ve been lookin at, huh?”

“Because you always look disgustingly in love when you do,” she tells him.

“Well, you look like that when Carrie does anything, so you’re not allowed to say anything,”

“I’m allowed to say everything I want, don’t try me, I’m doing your eyeliner,”

“Yes ma’am,” Reggie says, and hears Luke snort in the background. As if he wasn’t both in awe and terrified of Flynn as well.

“Baby, please keep your eyes, they’re pretty and I like them,” Bobby calls. Reggie gives a vague thumbs up in his direction and keeps still.

The performance goes amazing. The club is packed with people jamming out to their music, and some fans as well, because the screaming Reggie hears when some songs are started can only come from people who are familiar with them.  
Alex absolutely kills it, especially on the drum solo they always let him have at some point during the show, and he grins proudly when the crowd keeps hollering at him when he finishes.  
Luke, Reggie and Bobby have this thing where one of them picks up a tune from one of their oldest songs that they don’t really play anymore, and the other two join in on their respective instruments, to give Julie a quick break.  
Julie, as always, is the star of the show, her vocals rising high above their instruments.

Flynn will also probably chastise him later, for kissing Bobby on stage, because all of their relationship stuff is supposed to stay offstage, but Julie and Luke almost always get so close during Edge Of Great that it looks as if they’re about to make out.  
And who is Reggie, to resist the invitation to sing into the same mic as his boyfriend and peck him on the lips once the song is done? 

They give an encore and close the performance out sweaty and laughing, riding high on the adrenaline of playing in front of an audience. Stumbling around each other and holding hands with whoever’s next to them they return to the green room.

“That was amazing!” Luke yells the moment the door closes behind them, and Julie laughs in agreement and throws his arms around him. He picks her up and twirls her around a few times, she takes his face between her hands and pulls him down into a kiss the second her feet touch the ground again.

Bobby places a hand on the back or Reggie’s neck and pulls him in as well, Reggie brings his hands up around his neck and pulls him closer. He always feels a bit bad about this, because Alex is left alone while his friends make out, but they do take care to not kiss longer than five seconds.

“You absolutely killed it today, man,” Luke tells Alex, and pulls him into a hug.

“You all were amazing today!” Flynn calls as she barges in.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure Willie got more than just a few great photos,” Carrie agrees, following her girlfriend. Reggie’s and Luke’s eyes meet across the room, because shit, yeah, they still have to do something about Willie. Alex perks up at the mention of his name.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of watching you guys perform!” Willie says, entering last. He’s grinning, and looks very proud of them. Alex grins even wider than before and rushes forward.

“Good, we’re not planning on stopping anytime soon,” Luke says at the same time, and Julie rolls her eyes.  
Reggie’s about to say something teasing about Willie just concentrating on Alex, because he has been known to do that during practices, but the words dry in his throat.  
Willie steps forward when Alex meets him, and they share a smile before Alex grabs Willie’s face with both hands and kisses him. Willie goes up on his tiptoes, and puts his hand on Alex’s back to stabilize himself.  
Luke’s mouth falls open. Reggie feels his jaw go slack.

“What,” Luke says, loudly. Julie turns to him.  
“What the fuck,” Luke repeats, even louder. Carrie looks at him with bewilderment. 

Alex pulls away from Willie and gives Luke the same look. “What?”

“Did you really just have your first kiss here?” Luke asks, still incredulous. Alex makes a sound that’s somewhere between annoyance and confusion. Julie starts laughing, Bobby shakes his head in a manner that suggests he’s laughing as well. Flynn and Carrie just stare at them. Willie looks wildly entertained.

“No? You were my first kiss, you idiot, you were there,” Alex says.

“Your first kiss with Willie!” Luke shouts. Reggie still hasn’t found the sense in himself to react.

“No?” Alex says again. He looks at Luke like he’s grown a second head.

“So you’ve kissed Willie before? But you’re still not together? What the fuck, man,” Reggie finally says.

“What?” Alex yells, giving him the same look he just gave Luke.

“Reggie, sweetheart,” Bobby starts, still laughing, but Luke interrupts him.

“You can’t just play with other people’s emotions like that, Alex! Either you tell Willie you have feeling for him or you stop fucking around!”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” Alex, still yelling, asks.

“He told me he has feelings for me like, three weeks ago,” Willie interrupts, wheezing, and trying to hold himself up with a hand on Alex's shoulder.

“What the everloving fuck is going on here?” Carrie asks, looking between them, trying to figure it out. Honestly, Reggie couldn’t agree more. He also desperately wants to know what's going on.

“What do you mean he told you three weeks ago?!” Luke demands from Willie. Julie’s sunken down to the floor and has her head in her hands.

“We went on a date and I told him?” Alex says, as if it's the most obvious thing in the world.

“Wait, so you have been dating?” Reggie asks, still desperately trying to understand what’s going on.

“Yeah!” Alex says.

“What the fuck,” Luke says.

“So you’re telling me Luke and I tried to get you together while you already were?” Reggie asks.

Alex turns to look at him with his mouth open in shock and disbelief. “You two have been doing what?”

“Jesus Christ, why are you all so stupid?” Flynn says, shaking her head. She pulls Carrie to the couch, and they settle down, still watching. Willie keeps trying to catch his breath and takes Alex’s hand, Julie’s just a mess on the floor, and Bobby has a hand on Reggie’s shoulder, but he’s also laughing.

“Why didn’t you tell us you were dating Willie?” Luke asks, sounding offended now.

“I did! I told you we were going on a date!”

“He did,” Bobby confirms.

“Yeah, but you’ve done that before, and freaked out about it afterwards, we just thought you’d maybe calmed down for once,” Reggie says.

Alex throws his hands up. “I told you guys I kissed him!”

“When?” Reggie and Luke demand in unison.

“That night, literally, Bobby, tell them!”

Reggie turns to his boyfriend, who nods.  
“How come we don’t remember?”

“You were busy crying over the homestory of that girl on America’s Got Talent,” Bobby says, and breaks out into a new round of giggles, that would be adorable if Reggie wasn't so shocked by the fact that he really didn't know.

“You’ve really been dating for three weeks?” Luke asks,still reeling

“Yeah,” Willie says, still giggling.

“Did you know, Julie? Did you?”  
She sucks in a breath, still laughing, and nods.

“We also figured out what you guys were trying to do,” Bobby says “You’re aren’t exactly subtle,”

“Hold the fuck up, so you guys both knew that I was already dating Willie and that Luke and Reggie somehow didn’t know and were trying something stupid to get us together?” Alex asks, sounding exhausted.

“Yeah,” Bobby confirms.

“I had my suspicions as well, after the whole beach and you teaching me to surf thing,” Willie chimes in, wrapping his arms around Alex's waist and leaning into his side.

“We would have intervened, if they’d actually tried to do something weird,” Julie says, pulling herself up again, using Luke’s limp arm as help.  
“We honestly thought you two would figure it out faster, Willie and Alex aren’t really subtle either,”

“So that’s why you were cuddling on the couch yesterday!” Reggie gasps, realizing.

Alex looks absolutely done. "You saw us cuddling on the couch and still thought we were just being platonic?”

“No, we thought you both thought that was platonic and that you were being stupid,” Luke says, defensively.

“Luke somehow managed to look in the wrong direction everytime you kissed on Saturday,” Julie says.

“You’re all so stupid,” Carrie says from the couch, but she looks like she’s having the time of her life, just like Flynn.

“I can’t believe this,” Alex sighs, shaking his head.  
“I, for one, think it’s endearing that the three of you work on a single brain cell that,” Willie says and leans up to kiss Alex on the cheek, who blushes.

I agree,” Bobby says, and wraps his arms around Reggie from behind.

“It’s very cute,” Julie agrees, pulling Luke’s arm over her shoulders and tangling their fingers together on her shoulder.

“I hate all of you,” Alex says, but he still opens his arms, and they end up in a mess of a hug with too many limbs, and people.

“I’m definitely never going to let you live this down,” Flynn says from the couch. “This is going into your band biography.”

“I mean,” Luke says, squished between Willie and Julie “in a way, Operation Willex is still a success.”

“Operation what, now?” Alex barks while Reggie starts laughing.

“It wasn’t through any of your doing,” Willie says, and winks at Luke, before pressing a quick kiss to Alex’s temple which shuts him up effectively.

So, maybe Luke and Reggie were a bit oblivious about their best friend already being in the relationship they want him to be in, to be happy, but Alex doesn’t seem to be angry at them, and in the end things worked out well. Because seeing Alex blush bright red over a compliment from his boyfriend is maybe even more fun, than watching him blush bright red over a compliment from his crush. Also, this story is going to be absolutely hilarious in, honestly, probably not more than a few hours.

**Author's Note:**

> when i said this was stupid i meant it, but boy, was this fun to ride, hot damn!  
> i hope i'm not the only one who finds the concept of luke and reggie being completely oblivious to their friends' relationship while they think alex is oblivious absolutely hilarious, but we shall see :D  
> as per ususal, i'm not a native speaker so if there are any mistakes in spelling/grammar i'm really sorry.  
> and if you feel like chatting, about jatp or in general, you can find me on Tumblr as [on-irratia](https://www.tumblr.com/blog/on-irratia)  
> have a good day/ night/ rest of time! :D


End file.
